Animal Farm (2008)Set Design by Emma Palmer & Robert Nicholson
This was my first set design in theatre. While I do normally focus on stage & production management, I do enjoy doing Set Design too. The play, "Animal Farm" was performed at the Riverside Theatre, Hull College in 2008. I was on my final year of the BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts Production. As well as being the Set Designer, I was also the Production Manager for the show.
I wanted to illustrate to the audience the location of the set, so we designed a skeleton frame of the barn, with level points to show power within characters, so the straw bales (thatch covered stage blocks in our case) were to highlight the weaker and vulnerable character, while the central wooden block showed stronger power in the characters such as the pigs who take over the farm.
I also used shadow puppetry to help tell the key elements within the story, such as the creation and destruction of the windmill, the farmers house and when the pigs evolved to humans.
I wanted to illustrate to the audience the location of the set, so we designed a skeleton frame of the barn, with level points to show power within characters, so the straw bales (thatch covered stage blocks in our case) were to highlight the weaker and vulnerable character, while the central wooden block showed stronger power in the characters such as the pigs who take over the farm.
I also used shadow puppetry to help tell the key elements within the story, such as the creation and destruction of the windmill, the farmers house and when the pigs evolved to humans.
